IKEA restarts selling Swedish meatballs in Romanian restaurant after horse meat scandal, new DNA testing for food in place

Several IKEA stores and restaurants around the world, including in Bucharest, have re-started selling Swedish meatballs, one month after the food scandal broke about traces of meat horse in the meatballs. In Romania, the national authority for food safety did not find any traces of horse meat in the meatballs sold in the Bucharest restaurant and store, but investigations continued worldwide.

During this one month- hiatus, during which the IKEA restaurant in Bucharest sold meatballs based on a more traditional Romanian recipe, IKEA analyzed its meatball production and simplified its supply chain by cutting the number of meat suppliers, as well as implementing an extra security system for food, by adding a DNA testing on raw meat and on the final product. The furniture retailer will sell the Swedish meatballs in the Bucharest restaurant starting April 3, and in the shop, from the beginning of May. IKEA restaurants all over the world receive meatballs produced in Sweden. In Romania, the retailer sold over 4 million meatballs between September 2011 and August 2012, the retailer's catalog year, making them one of the most popular foods at the IKEA restaurant. The Czech State Veterinary Administration recently found horse meat in packs of frozen meatballs made in Sweden and shipped to the Czech Republic, and some 760 kilograms of meatballs were stopped from being sold. IKEA spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said meatballs from the same batch had gone out to Slovakia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: IKEA)